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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710741">a slice of heaven and peace of mind</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/edling/pseuds/edling'>edling</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood &amp; Manga</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, ed also has ADHD, ed is frustrated at god and goes to school, everyones autistic i am not making the rules, the winfan comes in later!!, this is stupid and gay and my brain short circuited thinking about it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:53:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,479</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/edling/pseuds/edling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Oh I'm ready to be somebody else / I'll forget how to feel the things I've felt<br/>---</p><p>Edward Elric thinks soul marks are stupid, especially after he loses the ones he has.<br/>Ling Yao doesn't know what to think of his own marks, especially when the person he might like doesn't even have his.</p><p>But they'll figure it out. Even if it is through a lot of dumb pining and stupid events.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edward Elric/Ling Yao, Lan Fan/Winry Rockbell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>62</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. the miracle methods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Edward Elric was never the type to believe in god. Not that he had any problems with that kind of thinking, but he didn’t really like the idea of there being someone above everything else. Someone that could control every part of a person’s life. It was weird. But he’d go with it, just this once, because there wasn’t really any other explanation for soul marks, was there?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He remembered when he first got a soul mark that wasn’t familial, a lover's mark on his right forearm. His mother had smiled and gave him a hug, telling him how wonderful it was going to be when he met the person out there that had that same mark as him. He frowned, but went with it. He wasn’t going to act like these marks ruled his entire life. What if he met someone that had a different mark and he loved them anyway? Who cared if some little picture on his skin told him otherwise, he sure didn’t.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But it still hurt when that mark was taken away from him, lost to the other side of the gate when he and Alphonse had tried that </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid</span>
  </em>
  <span> transmutation. It still hurt to have that one thing god actually gave him taken away with </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything else. </span>
  </em>
  <span> He and Alphonse didn’t have anything left anymore. It sucked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was the moment Edward decided he wasn’t going to go with it anymore. It’s not like he was even able to anymore, considering his soul marks were gone (even Al’s mark and his mother’s mark, both sitting on his left leg, they were both </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone and that sick bastard took them). </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God had just decided they were going to play a dumb game with Edward, yeah that was it, and Edward wasn’t going to keep letting them toy with his life anymore. He was done with it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he told Alphonse and Winry about his decision, they didn’t try to argue. They </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> however, try to argue when he told them he was going to attend a military school in Central. Unfortunately, they knew already that Edward Elric tends to not listen to anyone else, and he wasn’t about to listen now. It wasn’t like he really wanted to be a soldier, honestly, he just needed the available research there for information on how to get Alphonse’s body back. And if he had to actually go to school for a while, then that’s just how it was going to be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that’s exactly where he is now. Staring up at the academy’s main building as if it were some huge monster. People were starting to give him weird looks, probably thinking he was a weirdo, it was understandable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But he’d seriously never seen a building </span>
  <em>
    <span>this fucking big </span>
  </em>
  <span>before in his life! There wasn’t anything like this back in Resembool, he was going to get lost for sure. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Geez, that’s going to be embarrassing. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He rubbed his face with his hands at the thought, as well as just a half-assed attempt to rid his face of the bags under his eyes. He really didn’t sleep that well, the thought of being in a whole new environment causing tons and tons of other thoughts to start bouncing around in his head all at once. Thoughts about whether he’d get there on time, if he knew where he needed to go, what to do if he ended up forgetting everywhere he needed to be, his brain’s doing it again. He shakes his head side to side until he feels a hand on his shoulder, making him stiffen for a moment before turning around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah!” The hand immediately fell away from him. “Sorry if I startled you, you were just looking a little nervous there and I wanted to check up on you. You’re a new student, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edward rubbed his eyes as he turned around to look up and the, unfortunately, much taller man standing in front of him. He was wearing the pants of a military uniform but without the jacket, only the white button up shirts men normally wore underneath it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>So he must work here, then. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He had a beard and glasses, and one part of his otherwise short and spiky hair was longer and pointed, falling in front of his face. Edward slowly nodded as he processed what the man had said to him, and the man quickly held out his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Name’s Maes Hughes! I mainly work investigations for the military, but I sub here too so you should expect to see me around. If you need any help finding where you need to be, let me know!” He was shaking Edward’s hand rather frantically, the man clearly filled with a lot of energy. Ed waved his hand a bit before replying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, thank you! It’s nice to meet you, i’m Edward Elric.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The man blinked before resting a hand on his chin. “Elric, that sounds familiar, now where have I heard that name before….”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Edward closed his eyes as he let out a small laugh. Of course this guy’s going to know who he is, when he took the exam for the school they decided he was one of the most impressive kids they’d seen. Rumors quickly spread around of a child prodigy, one skilled in alchemy. He didn’t have that much a problem with it, really, but he didn’t feel like making that big of a name for himself at the moment. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The memory quickly left his brain as Hughes snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah! You’re that really skilled alchemist the higher-ups saw at the entry exam, right?? A coworker of mine saw you there, he said it was surprisingly impressive! You’ve sure got some skills to impress a guy like </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>, my boy!” Yep, there it is.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edward sighed. “Yeah, that’s me alright. And as much as i’d love to talk about those alchemy skills of mine, I need to know where the chemistry rooms are?” Really, he didn’t feel like talking about those skills of his at all. He had classes he needed to get to, and a dorm room he needed to look for, and he didn’t want to get distracted and forget any of those things.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah of course! Follow me, I'll take ya right to them!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And with that, Edward Elric started his first day at Amestris’s one and only military academy. It was probably going to be really weird.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Probably. Maybe. He really didn’t know.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>------</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s only been 3 months and you’re already failing classes. You need to step it up, Fullmetal!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ed put his face in his hands as he leaned back in his chair. Sitting across from his was one very displeased Colonel and advisory teacher, Roy Mustang. Ed preferred to call him Colonel Bastard, just as Mustang decided to call him Fullmetal. Most of the time, only state alchemists get those kinds of nicknames, but Ed was already one of the only students at the academy that specialized in alchemy. So, he decided that for this year</span>
  <em>
    <span> only</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the young alchemists would get temporary codenames until they became real state alchemists. If they </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be, that is. Edward wasn’t really one of those students, but he really didn’t care.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ed leaned forward again to balance his weight as he tipped the chair back. “I’m still passing </span>
  <em>
    <span>most</span>
  </em>
  <span> of them, why’s it matter?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you need those credits if you want to graduate on time, and I can tell you no teacher ever wants their students to have to retake classes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“.....Ok?” It was obvious Ed was only half-listening. It wasn’t that he didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>care</span>
  </em>
  <span> exactly, but as it turns out with a brain like his, school’s a little harder than it should be. Sitting at a desk doing nothing but listening to an adult speak was one of the most boring things he’s ever had to do in his life, he was sure of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mustang sighed, “I guess I don’t have much of a choice, Fullmetal. I’m going to have to assign you a tutor.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That caught his attention, in a not-so-good way. Ed nearly fell out of his chair. “What?! You can’t do that!!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As it turns out, Fullmetal, I absolutely can. And if you aren’t going to be able to get these grades up yourself, i’m going to get someone to help you. You got that? I’m not arguing over this.” He sent a glare Edward’s way. The one that meant ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>if you even try anything in here i’m giving you detention.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Edward ended up in detention a little too often for that already.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Deciding that he didn’t want to have this conversation at all anymore, and the Colonel obviously didn’t either, Ed surrendered. The front legs of his chair fell back onto the floor. “Fine. But i’m gonna come in here and yell at you if I don’t like the tutor you give me, alright?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mustang had already moved back to his computer screen and started typing out an email. “Sure. You’re dismissed, Fullmetal.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ed walked down the hall, watching his feet as he stepped. That is, until he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see the familiar face of Major Hughes looking down at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey there Ed, something on your mind?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde shrugged. “I guess. That bastard Colonel wants to give me a tutor.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hughes seemed to wince sympathetically. “Grades are that bad huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shrugged again, “Whatever, it’s only a few classes. It’s not terrible.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Still, you might actually want to work with whoever ends up your tutor. It could work in your favor in the end, y’know?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe….”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An idea flashed in Hughes mind, and he quickly patted Ed’s shoulder before starting to walk towards Mustang’s office. “I’ll let you think about it, kiddo. I’ve got some meetings to attend, i’ll see ya later!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy waved a goodbye and when he turned around, Hughes quickly dipped into Mustang’s office.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He knocked on the side of the doorway, letting the Colonel know he was there. “Giving the kid a tutor?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mustang didn’t look up, but replied nonetheless. “Yep. He’s failing a few classes, I'd rather he didn’t start failing a few more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hughes sighed. “Understandable.” He walked over and rested a forearm on the Colonel’s computer screen, making the man look up at him. “If it’ll help, I think I have an idea about who you can assign as Ed’s tutor.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ling Yao eyed the door he stood in front of carefully. He had received an email early that morning from the Lieutenant Colonel, who happened to be an English class substitute rather often. And for the class Ling was a teacher’s aid for, specifically. Apparently, Hughes had taken notice of Ling’s talent for the class, and had explained to him that there was a student that needed a tutor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that student just so happened to be his friend Lan Fan’s roommate. Which would be cool and all if he had ever seen the kid before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was always out when Ling came to visit Lan Fan, and the most he had ever gotten out of her was that he was ‘relatively cool but at the same time ridiculously short-tempered.’ He wasn’t really sure what to do with a description like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the door with the key Lan Fan had given him, and he opened the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t surprised to see Lan Fan on her bed with her laptop, she silently raised one hand in greeting. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> surprised however, to see the teen he had to tutor lying face-down on the floor, blanket tossed out of bed with him and now resting on his upper back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“His alarm didn’t go off this morning.” Lan Fan explained, a faint smirk on her face as she finished up an essay.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. ideas in the air</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>lings brain is being weird and the gays watch a movie</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> “His alarm didn’t go off this morning.” Lan Fan explained, a faint smirk on her face as she finished up an essay. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>If Ling had any thoughts in his mind when he was opening the door, he definitely didn’t have them now.</p><p> </p><p>He stepped inside, closing the door and looking down at the blonde mess laying on the carpet floor.</p><p> </p><p>“So. This is who I have to tutor.” </p><p> </p><p>“Yep.”</p><p> </p><p>“.....Okay cool!” Ling clapped his hands. His face wearing only an expression Lan Fan was able to read that said ‘<em> This is so fucking weird. What the fuck am I doing here.’ </em></p><p> </p><p>The blonde got up and rubbed his eyes, and that was the moment Ling could actually see what he really looked like.</p><p> </p><p>He was really short, for one thing. His blonde hair was down to the center of his back, and it was wavy. When he took his hands off his eyes Ling could see that they were <em> bright golden and wow he’s never seen eyes like those before. </em></p><p> </p><p>Lan Fan pointed to the teen. “Edward, you were sleeping with your shirt off again.”</p><p> </p><p>And he was shirtless. That too. Ling could practically feel his brain cells start leaving his body. And this is a <em> bad </em> time for that, he’s supposed to tutor this guy he <em> needs </em>those brain cells.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde (<em> Edward, his name is Edward </em>), shrugged. “Yeah, well it was getting hot in here last night and I was up studying so, you know how it is.”</p><p> </p><p>Lan Fan nodded and closed her laptop as he got up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door. She and Ling looked at each other for a minute before she hopped off the bed.</p><p> </p><p>“So, that’s Edward. What do you think of him?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think i’ve had a single real thought in the last 10 minutes.”</p><p> </p><p>She chuckled. “Do you want me to stay in here with you? I’ve talked to him a couple times, I can make it less awkward.”</p><p> </p><p>He almost got on his knees, but settled for just clasping his hands together. “Please.”</p><p> </p><p>She moved to the bookshelf. “Sure, I'll probably just be reading the whole time though. And you should probably find something to do while you wait for him to get out of there, he tends to take a while in the shower.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good thing I brought my charger then.” Ling said, pulling his phone out of his pocket along with the charger in case he needed it later.</p><p> </p><p>They sat in silence, then. Half of Ling’s brain was occupied by whatever was on his social media feed and the other half occupied by thoughts of Edward. He didn’t know what it was about the guy, he just met him 20 minutes ago and didn’t even <em> say </em>anything to him.Maybe his brain was just being stupid. If only he had the ability to take it out and smack it around a little.</p><p> </p><p>When Edward stepped out of the bathroom, now wearing an oversized white shirt and black shorts, there was a moment of silence as both boys stared at each other. Ling, at that point, was laying against the side of Lan Fan’s bed with his head on the floor and his legs on the bed. Lan Fan was sitting to the right of him, close to the window that sat between their beds. She waved at him.</p><p> </p><p>Ed pointed at Ling. “Has. Has he been here the whole time?”</p><p> </p><p>And that was when they all realized that during the period of time in which Ed was awake and not in the bathroom, he didn’t notice Ling at <em> all. </em></p><p> </p><p>Lan Fan simply nodded, and Ed just kind of. Yelled.</p><p> </p><p>“What the hell, you didn’t tell me??”</p><p> </p><p>“I thought you noticed!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I sure didn’t!! I was too focused on the shower, damnit!!”</p><p> </p><p>Ling decided he was going to try to prevent any more yelling by walking up to the blonde and extending his hand out to him.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not that big of a deal, don’t worry about it. Anyways, my name’s Ling Yao. I’m the one assigned to be your tutor.”</p><p> </p><p>Ed’s train of thought seemed to completely stop as he looked at Ling, a small frown on his face. He quickly shook his hand. “Edward Elric. It’s...Nice to meet you? I guess?”</p><p> </p><p>Ling shrugged, taking notice of how cold Edward’s automail hand was (which he totally noticed was automail before. Totally). “Sort of nice to meet you too. I get that i’m probably not making the best first impression.”</p><p> </p><p>Ed shrugged back. “It’s whatever. So, you’re here to tutor me for English?”</p><p> </p><p>The black-haired teen nodded. “Yep. And I’m pretty skilled in the class. So, I think for now we can just go over some notes. If you have any tests with you, I can look at these and help you with pointing out mistakes and stuff like that.”</p><p> </p><p>Lan Fan sent a look his way, surprised with how quickly he jumped into tutor mode. Ling came off as more of the type of student that aced tests but didn’t actually know what he was doing most of the time. She knew better than that, being his childhood friend and all, but it still surprised her sometimes. </p><p> </p><p>They spent a solid hour just going through notes and tests, with Ling pointing out mistakes and Ed occasionally yelling swears but stubbornly accepting the criticism. Lan Fan kept to herself, mostly just sitting and reading except for the one time she got up to make some quick toast.</p><p> </p><p>At some point after that it devolved into the three of them sitting on the floor in silence, the silence ending when Lan Fan closed her book.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you guys stop studying or something?”</p><p> </p><p>Ed rubbed his eyes. “I think we just lost focus at some point, my brain feels fried.”</p><p> </p><p>Ling raised one arm at nothing. “Probably something like that.”</p><p> </p><p>She hummed and moved to the shelf that lay at the foot of her bed. “We can watch a movie or something if you’d prefer.”</p><p> </p><p>Ed furrowed his brow. “Are there not any classes today?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s Saturday.” Ling provided, sliding towards the TV that lay against the wall past Ed’s bed with his legs.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.”</p><p> </p><p>“I have Spirited Away if you guys want to watch.”</p><p> </p><p>Ed sat up and stretched his arms. “I’m probably not going to pay attention for very long, but why not.”</p><p> </p><p>Ling nodded. “Yeah, i’m cool for an afternoon movie.”</p><p> </p><p>Lan Fan nodded and moved to put the DVD in. And for the rest of that afternoon the three of them let their brains melt as they laid on the floor and let the movie play.</p><p> </p><p>Lan Fan occasionally showed Ling something funny she saw on her phone and he’d laugh. At some point it looked like Ed fell asleep. Ling decided not to comment on it, and the mass of thoughts in the back of his mind saying he thought it was kind of cute <em> stayed </em>in the back of his mind.</p><p> </p><p>-------</p><p> </p><p>Apparently, at some point he fell asleep too. He woke up to Lan Fan tapping his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Ling. Get up, I don’t want you staying up all night later.” She said, leaning back and moving to get back up on her bed where she had her laptop open again.</p><p> </p><p>Ling rubbed his eyes and noticed a certain blonde wasn’t in the room anymore. He quickly turned to Lan Fan. “Did Ed leave?”</p><p> </p><p>She nodded. “Yup. A little bit after the movie he said he needed to go to the library. He does that a lot, don’t worry about it.”</p><p> </p><p>He quickly got up and tried to dust off his sweater, eventually deciding to just take it off. “I’m not worried.”</p><p> </p><p>He heard her stop typing for a second, before continuing. “So, you met Edward today. Thoughts?”</p><p> </p><p>“Um. He’s alright, I guess. We didn’t really talk all that much besides the studying. He’s interesting, I'll give him that.” </p><p> </p><p>She cocked her head to the side. “Really, that’s it? You looked a little flushed when you saw him this morning.”</p><p> </p><p>He had just stood up and already almost tripped. “So what!! He was shirtless!! I was surprised!!”</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t see her nod but he heard something in her tone of voice shift. “Yeah, sure. Understandable, honestly.” He threw his balled up sweater at her and she caught it without even looking, then threw it right back. He tucked it under his arm.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, well. I’m gonna head out. Gonna head to the other side of campus and grab something to eat. You want me to bring something back?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, I've got ramen in the minifridge and I'm dead set on not wasting any.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s kind of gross, but fair.” He leaned back against the door as he opened it. “I’ll see ya later.”</p><p> </p><p>She waved back, and he left the dorm room. Moving to the wall next to the door and pressing his forehead against it for a second.</p><p> </p><p>“This was a weird day.” Was all he can really say about it, and with that he turned and left the building.</p><p> </p><p>Thoughts were bouncing around in his head the whole way down campus. He didn’t pay that much attention to them, but at some point he had absent-mindedly rubbed his arm with his other hand. Right where a golden sun was marked on his wrist.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hope you liked this! my brain was getting fried halfway through so i just put it into the writing. that was fun. im gonna go pass out now, expect another chapter tomorrow!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. ill never get/im easily tempted</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>ed and ling have a short but meaningful talk / roy and maes decide what to do about a murderer</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> Thoughts were bouncing around in his head the whole way down campus. He didn’t pay that much attention to them, but at some point he had absent-mindedly rubbed his arm with his other hand. Right where his soulmark was. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They stayed with that same routine for a while. Ling would come early in the morning, they’d study for a while, and when their brains turned off they’d hang out on the floor. Eventually, Lan Fan started to leave during study sessions too, but she’d be back before either of the boys left.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling and Ed both had the unfortunate fate of being terrible at small talk, but they both wanted to get to know each other better. So, they made a game. One would ask the other a question, they other would answer, and they’d answer too. It was simple.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Favorite color?” “Red.” “Blue.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dogs or cats?” “Cats.” Ling nodded at Ed in agreement. “Cats.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Science or math?” “Science.” “Science.” They high-fived at that one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then sometimes things would get….weird. Really weird, hard to explain, but not <em> bad </em>. Just strange moments or days that would leave Ling feeling the dorm with an odd feeling in his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first example of a time like that was when on the day Ling came to tutor, it was raining.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling knocked on the door and when Lan Fan opened it, he could see a slight tilt in her eyebrows. She was concerned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh, everything alright?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She nodded. “Yeah, just, uhh...I don’t think you should tutor him today. You can stay to hang out though, he doesn’t mind.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“.......Ok?” She opened the door all the way and let him step inside.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His eyes immediately moved around the room in search of Ed, and he found the blonde was still in his bed. He was sitting up, and Ling felt his thoughts start to get jumbled around when he saw that Ed was shirtless again. He felt concern rise in his head, though, as soon as he saw Ed had a heat pad on his right shoulder and a cold one on his forehead. He looked <em> tired </em>, but on closer inspection Ling could still see that fiery look in Ed’s eyes. It made his brain go all weird again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey,” Ling greeted. “You doing ok?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ed shrugged and leaned his head back, pressing it against his bed’s headboard. “I’ve been better. This stupid rain’s gonna be going on all day and I wasn’t expecting it. I’m gonna have to email some of my teachers.” He ruffled his hair with his hands, careful not to make the pads on his head and shoulder fall off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling walked over and rested his forearm on the edge of the headboard. “Yeah, I hope the weather lets up soon. Good thing is that we won’t be having a tutor session today.” Ed’s eyes lit up at that and Ling’s brain had a millisecond long thought of <em> ‘Oh no he’s really cute fuck’ </em> before he looked towards Lan Fan. She walked over holding not one, but two DVDs!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Double movie day, boys. I’m in a Makoto Shinkai kind of mood.” She said, the DVDs she was holding very clearly reading Weathering with You and Your Name. Ling smiled, those movies were definitely a good pick for the day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ed nodded, “Fine by me. I don’t i’ve ever actually seen those ones before.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling smirked, hovering by Ed as the blonde slowly got up out of bed and sat against Lan Fan's bed a good distance from the TV. “Well, you’re in for a treat, I guess. Lan Fan couldn’t stop crying after we watched Your Name for the first time.” The girl in question started to humorously insult Ling, but stopped midway when the TV screen loaded and the menu popped up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After that, they mostly just concentrated on the movie. Ed had a habit of commenting on little things when he was watching a movie for the first time, but Ling and Lan Fan honestly didn’t mind. If anything, Ling found it kind of cute.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lan Fan was crying again by the time Weathering with You was over, but began watching intently as Your Name started. The movie honestly made Ling think a lot, about love and other things, and it placed a familiar weird feeling in his chest. But then again, love is just a weird thing to think about, Ling figured. At some point he had his hand on his right arm again, tracing the mark that was placed there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is that your soul mark?” His thoughts were interrupted by Ed’s question.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The black haired teen nodded. “Yep, want a look?” He leaned his arm towards Ed to give him a better view. It was the head of a dragon, colored red with a deep black outline. Ed seemed to nod his head as he looked at it, expression staying blank the whole time. “Interesting..”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling bended his arm up. “I have a lover’s mark too, but it’s on my back so I've honestly never gotten a good look at it. Lan Fan has, though.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She nodded, staring at the movie. Tears were pooling underneath her eyes, but it didn’t really look like she noticed. “Sure have. It’s a sun, a gold one.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ed’s brows furrowed for a second, something flashing in his eyes that Ling couldn’t recognize. It disappeared before he could figure it out. “Hm, alright. Sounds cool.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I guess. What about you?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>That probably wasn’t the best question, because Ed’s brow shifted again. He couldn’t figure out if the light in the blonde’s eyes had dimmed or began to burn brighter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Eh, lost my marks when I lost my limbs.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh-- Shit, sorry if bringing it up was kinda--” A small chuckle from Ed interrupted Ling’s thoughts. “Don’t worry about it, i’m not bothered by it or anything. I honestly don’t care much for soul marks in general, I wouldn’t care if the person I loved had my mark or not.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling noticed he’s been getting a lot of weird feelings in his chest that day. Maybe he should see a doctor or something. Or maybe he was just being really gay. He shook those thoughts away, smiling at Ed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, I think that’s really cool of you, Edward.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If Ed started getting flushed, he didn’t comment on it. And Lan Fan was too busy watching the movie to tease the two of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>--------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s getting dangerous out there..”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really? It’s <em> been </em> dangerous this whole time. It’s about time we do something about it.” Hughes scratched the back of his head tiredly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was in Mustang’s office again. The two of them having a rather serious discussion concerning a mass murderer recently being seen in the Central area. The higher-ups decided not to alert the students at the academy for some damn reason, and the two were deciding whether to take action themselves or not.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mustang shook his head. “I know what you mean, Hughes, but we can’t just go around doing our own thing. Who knows what’ll happen if we get caught disobeying commands.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hughes slammed his hands on the desk, making Mustang lean back in his chair. “I don’t care! The only thing concerning me right now is the student’s safety. If you want to see if we can get permission first, go right ahead, but if they say know i’m taking charge myself.” He crossed his arms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The reported murderer was someone skilled in alchemy. He could destroy pretty much anything, and that’s how he killed as well. Hughes was more than uncomfortable with the idea of one of his students being <em> murdered </em>that way. It didn’t sit well with him. It didn’t sit well with either of them, obviously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mustang sighed, resting his chin on his hands for a minute in thought before turning back to his computer. “I’ll email General Grumman about it. If anyone will give us permission, it’s him. I’ll let you know how it goes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hughes nodded. “Right. In that case, I think i’m going to reply to a few emails myself. Later, Roy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mustang waved as Hughes made his way to the door. “Be careful out there, Hughes.” Hughes nodded. “Same to you, Roy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And with that, he shut the door. Mustang being left to sit staring at his screen. General Grumman tended to respond quickly.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>heyyyyy this chapters a little shorter than the first 2, but i had fun writing it nonetheless<br/>things are about to get a little messy in the gang, but itll be ok. probably totally. yes</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. ill follow you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>ed is a dumb fucking idiot part 1</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ling was in Ed and Lan Fan's dorm room the morning they got the email.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Attention! All students attending the Amestrian Military Academy are now under strict orders NOT to leave their dorms. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling blinked tiredly at the screen of Lan Fan's laptop as he read the email's contents. <em> Apparently </em> there were sightings of a murderer around Central, and the staff decided to take measures to protect the students. The teen rubbed his eyes. He was too tired for this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lan Fan turned to him. "Hey Ling, do you want to just stay here? Leaving the dorms right now sounds dangerous. There's an extra mattress under my bed."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He shrugged. Thinking about it, it sounded like a good idea, and Ed didn't seem to mind the idea. Though, the golden haired boy hadn't said much that day either, so it was kind of iffy. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> Edward. </em> Geez, it seemed like the golden haired teen was all Ling could think about recently. Like he had a <em> crush </em> or something. He probably did, but Ling wasn't the type to admit that to himself. He'd rather just let the thought marinate in the back of his head forever and whatever happened would happen. If that made literally any sense at all, but that's how he thought about it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looked towards Ed, who was sitting against the side of his bed with his eyes closed. He was holding a book in his hands, which were resting in his lap. In all honesty, Ling thought he was asleep when he first came in, but realized he wasn't as he saw the blonde respond to Lan Fan by nodding. Ed hadn't said a thing all morning, and it was honestly starting to make Ling feel concerned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He let all these different thoughts and feelings bounce around in the back of his head as usual as he replied to Lan Fan with a quick nod. The two then began setting up a sleeping area for Ling, right in between Ed and Lan Fan's beds. Ed had gotten up and moved onto his own bed, not uttering a single word. His face had concentration written all over it, his gold irises burning with a strange kind of intensity. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Lan Fan went to the closet in search of another blanket, he went with her.</p>
<p>She raised a single eyebrow when he arrived but quickly settled back into her normal blank expression. There was, however, a glint of amusement in her eyes.</p>
<p>"You want to ask me about Ed, don't you?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"OH," Ling fumbled for words for a moment, caught off guard. "Well, I mean, yeah! Is there something wrong? You seem awfully cool about it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The girl shrugged. "He seemed pretty deep into that book he's got, so I'm assuming he's just doing some hardcore studying. I'm thinking it's like when I'm doing some intense sword training, or when you're rushing homework, you know?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a second, Ling felt like a complete idiot. He and Lan Fan both had their fair share of times when they'd become so focused that they practically ignored everything around them. To hear that Ed did the same thing shouldn't have been in any way surprising, if anything it was calming.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling blinked as he replied. "Oh, I see, that makes sense."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lan Fan patted his shoulder. "See? Everything's fine. Now let's get out of this closet, it's gonna get all sweaty with us standing around and breathing in here."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two made their way out, Lan Fan closing the door behind her. Ling shook his head to try to rid his mind of any concerns. Like Lan Fan said, everything was fine! But he couldn't help but notice distress flash in Ed's eyes in the few seconds after he'd blink, and it was making Ling have doubts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Everything was absolutely <em> not </em> fine, according to Edward Elric.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He flipped through a few of the pages of his book–a book on alchemy he had gotten from the library–and skimmed the contents. It took more effort than it should have not to slam his forehead against it. Over the course of the past few days he hadn't been prioritizing his alchemic research, and the guilt was starting to worm it's way into his chest. He was supposed to be looking for a way to get Alphonse's body back, damnit, not thinking about some stupid <em> crush </em> of all things.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Damn emotions...making him feel things for Ling...making thoughts of that stupid handsome guy run around in his head for hours. Sometimes he wished he could just smack his own brain around with a bat, but human anatomy didn't really allow that kind of thing. But in any case, he didn't want to even <em> think </em> about Ling for more than a second. Yet here he was, agreeing with Lan Fan for letting the bastard spend the next couple days in their dorm. <em> Their dorm </em> . The one <em> he </em> lived in. He knew for a fact he probably wasn't going to even <em> try </em> to talk to Ling, so he didn't know why he agreed at all. And the fact that he was just going to end up <em> ignoring </em> the guy he liked so much made the guilt in his chest get just a little heavier.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To top it all off, the reason Ling was staying in the first place was because there was a <em> fucking murderer somewhere in Central. </em>Right when he was planning to visit Resembool soon, too, of all times! And all of this stuff piled on top of each other was starting to really piss him off!! Honestly, if he could he would just run out into town and beat up that killer himself so he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In fact, the more he thought it, the more it didn't seem like that bad of an idea. He could die, sure, but stopping the murderer would prevent way more people from dying. Plus, he really needed to visit Al again (it’s been way too long since he’s seen his little brother) and getting rid of the murderer would give him the opportunity to do that again. Yeah, there we go. Al was just the motivation Ed needed. He’d kick the murderer’s ass and go see his brother. After all, his brother was most important to him at the moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Adjusting his position on his bed, Ed laid with his book held over his face. Half of his brain concentrated on the book, the other concentrated on a plan to get out of the dorm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That plan was set into motion as soon as Ling got up to take a shower.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>-------</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ling was absolutely startled when he heard Lan Fan yelling outside of the bathroom. So much so that he ran out of the room, still holding his shirt in his hands, on only to see Ed attempting to scramble out of the window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can you just tell me what the hell you’re doing?!” Lan Fan questioned. Her face wasn’t easy to read but looking into her eyes, Ling could see they had widened slightly and he made out that familiar look of concern shining in them. He turned to Ed, who just looked embarrassed, if anything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m going to stop that damn murderer is what I'm doing!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh. That’s a <em> bad </em>idea. “Ed, do you know how dangerous that is? Why would you want to do that?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This guy’s getting in the way of some stuff I have to do, so i’m gonna beat his ass. I’m well aware of how dangerous it is, Ling.” He sent a glare Ling’s way, a weird feeling growing in the black-haired teen’s chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you mean?” He tilted his head. This was honestly really confusing. “Surely there isn’t anything more important than staying safe right now, Ed. What else could possibly be more important??”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He regretted saying that as soon as Ed slammed his hand on the window pane.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It isn’t any of your <em> damn </em> business, okay Ling?! Now can you shut up and let me go take care of this?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The gold in his eyes was the brightest that moment than Ling had ever seen it. Ed was <em> mad. </em>Anything Ling was going to say before disappeared in his brain. And in the end, that didn’t really matter because Ed didn’t even give him or Lan Fan a chance to say anything. He just jumped out of the window, falling a short distance to the ground before breaking out in a sprint away from the dorms.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He could feel Lan Fan’s eyes on him, probably telling him not to go follow Ed. He shook his head, making his way towards the window as he slipped his shirt on. He heard her sigh and move closer to him, and soon after the two were making their way out of the dorms as well. They ran off in the direction Ed went, just hoping that if anyone saw them it wasn’t a member of the school staff.</p>
<p><br/>
<em> God, </em>they could get kicked out for this. Ling could only hope Ed really knew what he was doing. That familiar feeling in his chest came back as he ran.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>HEY BROS sorry this chapter is much shorter than the previous ones. this part of the storys still bouncing around in my brain a little bit and ive started to write in pieces instead of whole chapters in one go, so it's taking longer for me to get the words out of my brain and into the document yknow? also the first half of this chapter was hastily written at 3 in the morning! anyways, eds angry and about to be dumb and im about to write some idiots getting in a fight so stay tuned for that</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>heyyy!! this came to me randomly at 7pm this evening and i felt compelled to just do this. im gay and also an idiot<br/>normally im not into soulmate aus but this was making me actually insane so its here now! let me know what you think, i appreciate it!</p><p>and anyone who was reading 'you let your callous be your shield' im so sorry this is all my brain is focused on right now</p></blockquote></div></div>
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